These Days
by KaibaGirl007
Summary: Things don't quite go according to plan when Jack tries to end Joey and Ianto's petty feud. But with the captain too busy to sort out the mishap himself (not to mention clueless), Joey is forced to undergo his most trying case yet. On the plus side, at least Seto's in no position to fire him.
1. Chapter 1

**Part of my 'Doctoring The Blue Eyes' saga.**

 **Set after 'One Card Short' : Seto aged 38.**

...

 **Dedicated to Gee and Jess.**

You two have helped me through some though times, of which I might not have made it through if you hadn't been there to help pick/lift me up when I needed you. I feel extremely fortunate to have met you both online _and_ in real life. Thank you or being my friends.

Gee - Thank you also for hearing me ramble on about this fic in it's early stages. I hope you enjoy the final result.

Jess - I know you're not fond of a certain Mr Wheeler, but I hope you enjoy the overall story.

...

This fic is greatly influenced by Take That's album, III

It is also the _happiest_ instalment of my saga.

Please read and review

:)

...

 **Chapter one**

 **Oh I can see the future coming to you**

 **Cry away the sadness in your eyes**

 **And I can find a faith in days I've wasted**

 **Been around enough to feel alive**

There was a rumbling sound as the cell phone vibrated on the bedside cabinet. It convulsed aggressively as though canalling the exact vitality of the caller. Rhythmically it found its way to the edge and tumbled down onto the bed. Still it continued to shake as it landed right next to the blond haired man and roused him from his slumber.

Joey snorted and groaned groggily as he lay in tangled limbs of last night's conquest. Slowly but surely he came around and picked up his handset to receive the incoming call. "Hello?"

"Good morning _Wheeler_."

"Seto!" He exclaimed in fright upon hearing the annoyed tone that had greeted him. With widened eyes he sprang up from where he lay causing much disturbance to the brunette by his side who also woke with a bewildered start. Looking at the clock to his right, he could see that the time was 9:23. "Shit, I overslept."

"And then some." It was an extreme understatement to say that the CEO was displeased with him. "What's your excuse this time?"

"Is everything okay?"

 _Fuck!_ Joey's head fell into his hand as What's-her-name had question him loud enough to be heard by his boss on the other side of the conversation.

"Humph, I thought so... You've got twenty minutes to get your ass into work. Take any longer and you're fired. Understood?"

"Understood." Joey confirmed as the line went dead. He tossed the phone back onto the bed and frustratingly ran his fingers through his hair whilst the arms of the woman who's name he couldn't remember, began to wrap around him from behind in an attempt to entice him back in to laying with her.

 **And when the world is broken, hard and cold and**

 **No one ever knows the reason why**

 **For the ones we may become**

 **For the battles we have won**

 **For the day we reach the sun**

 **Gonna play it loud tonight**

Seto placed the phone back down onto the port on his desk. After over half an hour of no luck on his sister-in-law's part, he'd taken it upon himself to call his tardy employee. Now that that was over with, he could finally carry on with the day's business as he straightened the knot in his tie. The cufflinks of the CEO's sleeves were the next thing to be sorted, and a quick tousle of his bangs assured that the scar above his right brow was covered.

 **When you dream of a dream**

 **And you live in the world**

 **Every hope is a hope for the best and won't you rest on my bones**

 **And you're calling me now**

 **I was here all the time**

 **Should be out there living the life and not just watching, oh**

Now looking like the immaculate businessman as always, Seto strode down the corridor towards the conference room. Nobody would have ever suspected that he'd been out patrolling the city in search of recent rift debris during the early hours of that morning.

That was _exactly_ the way he liked it.

 **Take me back**

 **Before we all explode**

 **Before we turn to stone**

 **Before the night is gone**

 **Take me back**

 **To where it all began**

 **To where our memories grow**

 **Before they take us over**

THWACK!

Joey received a swift slap across his face upon telling the woman her company was no longer required. He watched her storm out in a rage and felt no compelling reason to even attempt to stop her.

Why did the women he brought home always think they were entitled to more than one night of passion with him? His intensions were _never_ kept from them and _still_ they'd assume he had chosen them to be his girlfriend! Not even regular fuck buddies were something he'd consider these days. After having lost Mai and then Diana, any form of attachment,- no matter how small,- had become just too painful for him to handle.

 **Tonight**

 **We're gonna live for**

 **We're gonna live for these days**

 **Tonight, Tonight**

 **We'll remember**

 **We'll remember these days**

 _People are such liars! Love isn't magical; it's nothing but fucking brutal!..._

Breakfast. The blond needed breakfast to help him tackle the day ahead and knew _exactly_ what he wanted. The cupboard doors opened and reached for the pop-tart box.

 **What a day to believe**

 **To believe in the night**

 **What a day to belong, to a face in the crowd and the beat of your heart**

 **And I'm already in**

 **And you're working it out**

 **And you're holding us all in your hands, oh want you waiting for**

"Ow! Hot, hot!" The toast burnt the tips of Joey's fingers as he caught both slices when they popped up from inside the toaster. He then placed them between his teeth to allow himself use of both hands as he gathered his keys, phone and coat before heading out of his apartment 's door and hastily hurrying to make it in to work before his time was up.

 **Take me back**

 **Before we lose control**

 **Before the tables turn**

 **Before we break it all**

 **Take me back**

 **To where it all began**

 **To where our memories grow**

 **Before they take us over**

In the dark early hours of Cardiff's suburbs, Captain Jack Harkness sat in the black reenforced SUV as he finished the call to his husband, "... should be home within the hour. Please don't wait up any longer. You _need_ your rest."

"You mean you want me up bright and early in order to continue training the newbies."

"That too." He laughed at the other's dry teasing tone. But the Welshman was right; he didn't want to be left alone with their team's newest recruits. "Goodnight Ianto, sweet dreams."

"Nos da."

With the call now ended, Jack got out of the SUV and entered into the derelict building where he had secretly arranged to meet with a 'rather attractive' woman.

 **Tonight**

 **We're gonna live for**

 **We're gonna live for these days**

 **Tonight, Tonight**

 **We'll remember**

 **We'll remember these days**

Ten minutes later and Jack reemerged from the building. In his hand he held a small leather pouch that he gleefully tossed into the air and caught again with ease... _This'll solve our problem!_

 **Oh I can see the future coming to you**

 **Cry away the sadness in your eyes**

 **And I can find a faith in days I've wasted**

 **Been around enough to feel alive**

Joey sprinted as fast as he could down Domino's streets. Knowing that he'd be hitting the bars straight after work the previous day, he'd chosen to leave his car parked at Kaiba Corp so that he wouldn't drink and drive. _Heh, this'll teach me to not think ahead anymore as I try and be responsible!_

 **And when the world is broken, hard and cold and**

 **No one ever knows the reason why**

 _At this rate I ain't gonna make it!_ The blond glanced at his watch when he was forced to stop at a pedestrian crossing whilst the lights changed. _Less than three minutes left and I've still got two more streets to go!_ Being fired from a job he enjoyed,- never minded needed,- was seeming all too real a possibility right now...

 **For the ones we may become**

 **For the battles we have won**

 **For the day we reach the sun**

 **Gonna play it loud tonight**

A car horn blared as Joey suddenly leapt into the road from the crowd on the side walk. _No, I won't give up! Even if I have to kiss Rich-boy's ass all day, I'll prove to him that I'm no slacker!_

 **Tonight**

 **We're gonna live for**

 **We're gonna live for these days**

 **Tonight, Tonight**

 **We'll remember**

 **We'll remember these days**

All throughout the meeting, Seto kept glancing out of the window that overlooked his building's entrance. For some reason he felt strung up waiting for Joey to show, yet wasn't sure why the hell it bothered him so much. At first the other's addition to his undercover Torchwood team had worked well. _They'd_ worked well,- and still did occasionally,- but as time went on things... changed.

Now old feelings of irritation and resentment for the blond were beginning to seep back to the CEO. Sure his bout of depression may have played at part in the way they'd interacted for a while, but that _didn't_ explain the reason why the other had become so unreliable on such a regular accuracy.

 _Humph, some people never change!..._

 **Tonight, Tonight**

 **We're gonna live for**

 **We're gonna live for these days**

 **Tonight, Tonight**

 **We'll remember**

 **We'll remember these days**

Y _ou are SO well and truly fired Wheeler!_ Seto's mind sneered upon checking his watch when Joey finally came into view. _Your twenty minutes were up a couple of minutes ago and you have still to enter the building... Even so, that was an impressive time if you covered the whole distance on foot. Not enough to save you though._

 **Oh oh oh ohhh**

 **Oh oh oh ohhh**

 **Oh oh oh ohhh**

 **These days**

With the meeting now over a half hour later, Seto approached the elevator in order to make his descent into the secret basement HQ. There he planned to confront the good-for-nothing employee and fire him like he'd stated he would.

His phone sounded just a split second before the elevator arrived. Taking the device from his pocket, he open the newly received message: _'Call me as soon as you're able to Kaiba-boy. It's urgent that I speak with you.'_

 **Oh oh oh ohhh**

 **Oh oh oh ohhh**

 **Oh oh oh ohhh**

 **These days**

The elevator was abandoned as it stood there with doors wide open.

It was unlike Pegasus to ever text ahead before they shared a call together, so the CEO sensed that something must be greatly amiss for him to have done so. He decided that contacting his biggest business partner was more of a priority at that moment in time so was now heading towards his office for complete privacy in order to make the requested call back.

 _I'll get to you soon Wheeler, and then you'll find yourself removed from my life once and for all!_

 **Oh oh oh ohhh**

 **Oh oh oh ohhh**

 **Oh oh oh ohhh**

 **These days**

...

 **A/N: I'm hoping to return to regular updates once again.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Over twenty years of business dealings with Pegasus and Seto still didn't know any better as he sat there slouched back in his office chair with his head in one hand and phone in the other. _I'm such a fool to have though this call was genuinely urgent. Why do I let him get away with this crap?_..."I can fit you in next Tuesday."

"Oh come now Kaiba-boy, I _know_ you can do better than that."

"Tuesday." he repeated. "Take it or leave it." Whilst not overloaded with work, his schedule was pretty full until then. He had no desire for old habits to resurface; were he would once max out his days completely and end up sacrificing precious time with his family. His kids would only be young once and he was all too aware how short life could be. Especially when Torchwood was figured into the equation.

"You're a hard man to bargain with… Okay, next Tuesday it is."

 _Finally!_ Seto silently rejoiced. He leant forward to consult with his organiser that lay open on the desk in front of him. All of next Tuesday was currently blank. "Any particular time?"

"All day if you're free. We have much to discuss."

"About what exactly? You claim it's urgent yet refuse to say."

"That's because it's a secret."

Seto rolled his eyes. "I can fit you in either first thing until lunch, or from 3 till 5."

"That's not much of a choice! You know I'm not a morning person."

"3 til 5 it is then."

"No, wait! I'll take the morning. It just means I'll have to arrive in Domino a day earlier than I had originally intended… What are you doing the night before?"

"Washing my hair." His voice was became a frustrated growl. He had things to do,- firing Wheeler being at the top of his list,- and didn't have time for silly bantering games. "I'll see you next Tuesday 8am sharp."

The call was ended and the CEO wasted no time in writing his business partner's name across the allocated time-slot. He then entered the details in his phone's planner too as a flash of light illuminated his room. Without raising his head in the slightest he drawled, "How many times have I told you not to materialise in my office?"

"I didn't realise you wanted me to keep score." Jack laughed before seating himself in the chair opposite his friend. His grin soon faded when he caught sight of the annoyed look sent his way. "Sorry. It won't happen again."

"Good. Because if I had company in here when you just decide to drop by like this then that would leave questions to either answer or deny."

"That's what Retcon is for."

Unamused, Seto stared at the smug looking captain. "I take it you want something?"

"I do."

"Well then make it quick." He slammed the organiser shut and waited for his friend to begin.

"It's about Joey and Ianto."

"What about them?"

Jack hesitated for a moment as he tried to find the best way to make light of the conflict between the two men. "Well, surely you've also noticed that they have an 'inability' to work well together-"

"Wheeler's being fired; problem solved."

"Whoa, whoa now wait a minute!" He mirrored the other man with rising to his feet. "Let's not be to hasty about this. I'm sure we can get them to work things out! It's just a petty feud after all."

"I wish it were that simple." Seto admitted. "But as of late he's becoming increasingly unreliable. This morning he let me down for the last time; he's going."

"Are you crazy? Joey's good at what he does!" the captain argued back. "Finding capable team members like him is hard. Just wait until the time comes for your team to be recruited from scratch again, then you'll see!"

 _I'd rather not._ Seto thought to himself. The day he'd be recruiting from scratch would be the day once every one of his team was dead. He already felt guilty knowing that their lives were at risk each and every day because of him and didn't envy the recruitment process that his friend was currently undergoing with his own team; again partially because of him. "In that case, _YOU_ can have him."

"Can't." Jack replied and frowned a little at noticing the slight change in the other's tone of voice. "Him and Ianto, remember…? … But, if you _still_ feel the same once we've gotten them to work things out, I'll gladly take him off your hands." He pulled out the small leather pouch from his pocket and handed it to the CEO.

Seto's eyebrows raised. "What's this?"

"The answer to our problem."

. - . - .

"Hey Becky, how's things?" The CEO greeted his sister-in-law after having arrived down in his secret organisation's HQ.

The blonde ceased her typing as she worked on updating the encrypted coding for the Torchwood database and responded in a hoarse voice, "Work, smooth. Throat, still sore."

"You want to take some time off and get that checked out?" He asked with some slight concern regarding the Pharyngitis that she'd had for several days now.

"Pfft, I'm fine." she croaked as she waved off his concern. "Caught this from Mokie or the boys. It'll pass."

Leaving Rebecca to continue with her work, Seto approached Ryou who was busy sorting though current and archived rift activity. "Everything in order?"

"Huh, what?.. Oh! Yes, _yes_ everything's okay and as it should be. I'm just double checking-"

"Relax." The CEO clasped the startled looking male on the shoulder. "Don't over overexert yourself. You've had a lot to deal with just lately… How is Tarquin by the way?"

"He's doing good now that we got that whole school fiasco sorted." Ryou replied in response to being asked about the teenage relative that he was now the parental guardian over. "A little reclusive, but that's to be expected given how unfamiliar everything is for him right now."

"If you,- or he,- require help of _any_ kind, then you have only to ask."

"Thank you, and I will."

Seto pat his employee 'so long' before moving on to the third and final member of his team. His eyes narrowed in annoyance as they landed on Joey who was sat with feet up on the workstation and yo-yo in hand. "How dare you have the nerve to turn up so late and then waste time with that thing...? Get back to work!"

"First of all, I'm sorry about being late." Joey idly spoke as his hands worked back and forth to dismount and dispel the yo-yo from the string built tower around his fingers. "It won't happen again… And secondly, the rift has been so damn quiet lately that there's nothing currently requiring my attention. Reports are complete and today's headlines have been checked for anything out of the ordinary. If there's a job you want me to do then just say the word and I'll gladly do it. You _are_ the boss after all."

"That's right, I _am_." Seto spoke as he reached out and confiscated the yo-yo. "You'd do well to remember that Wheeler. Your hours start at the time that I set, _NOT_ whenever you feel like crawling out of you bed and away from whatever trash you brought home the night before."

Blue and brown eyes glared challengingly at each other. Each man silently fuming from the way that the other had spoken to them, yet restrained themselves just enough to not allow the situation to come down to blows from their frustrations:

 _Damn it Wheeler, you had so much potential! Why'd you have to let me down? You think I'm happy that I'll be losing you to Jack?..._

 _Fuck you Rich-boy! I thought you'd changed. Should a known you never truly meant it when you said you wanted to be friends. All you've done is lead me on time and time again…_

"Here. Put your goddamn toys away and _act_ like an adult for a change." Seto handed the yo-yo back to its owner. "I'm expecting Jack and Ianto to arrive here soon. See them through to my office once they do."

 _Ugh, not Yanto!_ Joey rolled his eyes behind his boss' back after it was turned. He watched the CEO enter into the small side room before he allowed himself to voice his thoughts. "I _hate_ that obnoxious Welsh jerk!"

"Ianto's not obnoxious." Ryou commented after overhearing what the blond had to say. "And he's not a jerk either."

"Yeah, maybe not to you or Becky, but that guy has a stick up his ass when it comes to me." His friend looked confused, so he went on to explain. "Ever since I met the guy at Seto and Kisara's wedding, all we do is clash."

"Why?" Ryou was curious to know.

Joey shrugged. "Dunno… It might have had something to do with him overhearing me trash talk a certain someone. Bare in mind that Seto and I hadn't made amends with each other at that point, so I was mouthing off purely about time during our teens. Then during the party, the guy comes up to me and starts making _assumptions_ about my marital status; which I called him out on. Heh, his hypocritical ass didn't like that at all."

"Well I guess that would explain things..." Ryou commented on what he'd been told. "But he doesn't strike me as the type to hold a grudge."

"Oh believe me, it's being held."

Rebecca started to laugh which soon turned into a raspy cough. "More like you're both jealous." she wheezed when she had caught her breath once more.

"Jealous?! Of what? Him?" Joey couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Uh huh. He has something,- or rather someone,- that you want."

"I ain't interested in Jack."

"Not Jack… Seto."

"What?!" Joey exclaimed in something close to horror at what his female colleague had just said. "How the fuck-…?"

Ryou thought over what he'd just heard and actually agreed with Rebecca. From what he knew of the situation, Seto had made friends with the Welshman long before he'd made amends with Joey. And from past conversations with Joey, he was aware of the man's frustration of not having developed a full fledge friendship with the CEO like he'd expected he would. Thus the man stood before him was secretly,- or subconsciously?,- envious of the other for having attained that closeness. _I wonder if Seto's aware there's a rivalry going on for his friendship?_

"Look _I AM NOT_ , jealous of Yanto." The blond protested. "The guy's haughty attitude just rubs me up the wrong way…"

There was a flash of light behind Joey as the expected couple arrived via Jack's vortex manipulator. Although the other two were aware of the men's arrival, he was not and continued to rant on with multiple impersonations of the man in question, "… _'Look at me, I'm so perfectly Welsh!', 'I have more knowledge in my pinky than the whole of wikipedia!', 'Nobody has a coffee fetish like I do', 'My OCD makes your opinion irrelevant', 'And did I ever mention I'm shagging my boss?'_ -"

" _MY BOSS_ also happens to be _MY_ husband, so I think I have _EVERY_ right to shag him!" Ianto's usually calm voice boomed angrily throughout the large open space.

Jack on the other hand had found Joey's impressions,- and his husband's reaction to them,- so amusing that he had to cover his mouth to stifled his laughter. He knew that he shouldn't be laughing as this was exactly the type of behaviour that he wanted nipped in the bud, but he just couldn't help himself. Their timing had been just right to have received such a horrified yet comical look on the other man's face. Though once the initial shock had worn off, Joey then bore a heated look that Jack reckoned would have had no trouble at all at matching one of Seto's.

The Welshman returned the narrow glare he received and wasn't about to let the moronic blond get away lightly with having impersonated him like he had. "Your little performance must be the result of stored up resentment of not having had a meaningful shag yourself since your ex-wife left you!"

" _YOU FUCKING CUNT!_ " Joey roared as he leapt at the smug looking bastard with every intention of ripping him apart.

"Hey, hey, stop this! Joey STOP!" The captain wrestled with the blond as he came to his husband's defence. He somehow managed to overpower the unleashed bout of rage triggered by the 'meaningful' claim. He knew that the other man _had_ found love after his ex. If only Joey hadn't tried to keep his relationship with the deceased team member a secret from everyone, then the jibe just issued wouldn't have been sneered in the first place. Whilst his husband's sense of humour was dry, he knew it was never intentionally meant to cause offence. Even so...

"That's enough!" Jack stared directly at his loved one as he spoke in the hope of having his displease taken more seriously than it had just minutes ago. "This is _EXACTLY_ the type of behaviour I want stomped out… From _BOTH_ off you!" He finished talking with with his gaze fixed on Joey and slowly released his grip on him. "The pair of you; Seto's office, _now_!"

Both Ianto and Joey slunk away without further bickering between them after having just been rebuked by the older man.

"Sorry you two had to see that." The captain apologised as he straightened up his greatcoat. He then flashed a smile at the two remaining team members. "You're looking beautiful today Ryou. You too Bex. Catch you both later." He race off to to rejoin the pair now waiting outside the small side room door.

"You knock."

"He's _your_ boss, _you_ knock."

"Oh for Pete's sake, _must_ you two turn everything into an argument?" Jack rolled his eyes as he now joined them.

"Who's Pete?" Joey asked looking rather confused.

"Nevermind." Jack sighed before knocking on the door himself and then striding in straight afterwards. "I'm back, and I've got them … both…?... Seto?"

"You said he'd be waiting for us." Ianto commented to his bewildered husband whose eyes were scanning the room.

"He _should_ be here." Joey stated. "I watched him enter just a short while ago."

"Oh no!" Jack sighed as hie eyes landed on the small leather pouch he'd entrusted to the CEO during his earlier visit. The bottle of green swirly mist it had concealed now lay empty beside it. His eyes began to scan the room once more. "I told you not to open it Seto."

"You told him to do something,- on his turf,- and _seriously_ expected him to comply?"

"Haha, more fool you Jack!"

"I know I wanted you two to get along, but teaming up against me _wasn't_ what I had in mind." The captain shot the amused duo an exasperated look before returning his attention back to the apparently empty office. "Come on out Seto. I'm not mad at you. A little disappointed, but _not_ mad."

Underneath the wooden desk,- shielded from the three men by the front panel blocking their view,- Seto sat with his arms pulling his knees as close to him as they could possibly go. He was disorientated, frightened and alone. "W-who are you? W-where's my brother?"

The sound of the scared child took Joey and Ianto by complete surprise. Jack on the other hand wasn't fazed at all, but now knowing were his friend was hiding, he crouched down and tried to spy under the tiny gap at the front of the desk. Not that it did much good as all he could make out were shadows.

Without a clue about how much the bottle's spell had regressed the CEO, the captain introduced himself, "My name's Jack."

"Jack? … From the hospital?"

"You remembered me." he smiled a little at the bittersweet memory.

"Is Mokuba with you?" the scared boy went on to ask with a voice that sounded extremely close to tears. "My brother Mokuba, _not_ your friend Mokuba."

"No. It's just me and a couple of my other friends..."

Mokuba wasn't there! Seto bit down on a hand still clutching his knees to his chest. If his brother wasn't there, then where was he? Had they been separated again as punishment? Or was it something more permanent this time? Tears began to pool in his eyes and he pulled his knees tighter still.

"...Your brother's safe though so you've no need to worry about him." Jack provided reassurance as he began an attempt to gently coaxed his friend from under the desk. "Why don't you come on out? We can help you Seto."

"No!" the response was barked back in an angry,- quite possibly distraught?,- manner. " _Why_ should I trust you? You've already lied to me! _You said_ things would be okay. But you knew they wouldn't be. _You knew!_ And your friend Mokuba knew. You wouldn't let him tell me though. But he wanted to. When I saw him cry, I knew. I just… knew… M-m-mom..."

The sound of the little boy breaking down into mournful sobs tore at Jack's heart. "Mokuba was future you Seto. We couldn't let on about your mother's death there that day."

"You c-could have s-s-s-saved her."

"No. We couldn't. It would have changed your whole life from then on."

Seto did his best to regain control over his emotions as the tears continued to fall. But the floodgates had already been opened, and the surge too strong to hold back, " _THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT IN YOU BEING THERE?!_ "

The captain shifted uneasily on his haunches at hearing the distraughted scream. "It was an accident." he answered truthfully though wasn't sure if the boy would believe him.

With the suppressed emotional build-up out of the way with, Seto managed to regain some control over himself and his sobs lessened. ""D-did you know about my d-dad too? How h-he'd die and leave us orphaned?"

Jack mulled over his answer for a moment. Although he had basic knowledge of his friend's history, this version of the CEO still had a lot of that to live out. Answering 'yes' would probably do more harm than good. Even so, he had no intention of outwardly lying to him. "Your father's death is something that you've never discussed with me. Not in depth-"

The boy's sobs restarted and the captain was now battling to keep his own held back. "Seto, please come out and let me hug you."

"W-why? Why would you w-want to hug m-me?"

"Because I love you… It breaks my heart to know you're in pain and that there's nothing else I can do to alleviate it."

Seto fought back a new wave of tears. What had been said couldn't possibly be true; _nobody_ loved him. That was why he and Mokuba had been placed in the orphanage once their parents had died. Even their relatives didn't love them enough to keep them more than a couple of months… Why did this man genuinely sound like he cared when those closest to him hadn't? Was it a trick? Or worst, what if it wasn't a trick and that moment of comfort he so desperately longed for was passed up because of his insecurity?!

Slowly his arms released their grip around his knees and he crawled out from underneath the desk. The extra long-legged pants gradually slipped from his legs with each movement made until he was only wearing the overly large shirt and tie that looked more like a nightshirt on his far smaller frame. Nervously he turned and looked towards the three men. The two strangers stood there with wide eyes and open mouths whilst the familiar captain was crouched down in front of them.

"You've grown tall." The captain commented as though it had been the first time he'd seen the boy since their time at the hospital. It was also quite eerie just how closely Seto resembled his grandson at that age. God, what he wouldn't give to see Steven one more time. But of course he wouldn't and he would live with the immense feeling of guilt for the rest of his life. With teary eyes, he raised his open arms, and almost instantly they were filled.

"I'm sorry." Seto sobbed hard into the awaiting man's shoulder as arms wrapped around him.

"Me too." Jack whispered as he lovingly held the scared boy with one hand gently caressing his soft brown hair. He then made the mistake of looking up to see two mystified faces staring back at him and watched as both men's expressions morphed into inquisitive glares. _Fuck!_ he had some explaining to do.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The sound of footsteps sounded throughout the underground base as Ianto furiously paced back and forth. "You've done some fucked up things in your time Jack, but this!?"

"Yeah okay, now I've seen it in action I'll admit that it _was_ … dumb." Jack nodded his head in agreement as he sat there being chastise by his husband.

"Dumb?!" Ianto scoffed. "That's an understatement if I ever did hear one!"

Still baffled and confused by whatever had happened that had resulted in his boss' regressed age, Joey glanced from one man to the other. He'd never witnessed the couple like this before. And as much as he would hate to admit it, he found himself siding with the annoying jerk. "So I take it that Seto _wasn't_ in on this?"

"Not completely." the captain replied, tearing his gaze from the Welshman's furious eyes fixed upon him as he answered the blond's question. "He _was_ aware that I had a ploy to cease the two of you from bickering. The fact that the bottle contained a spell that would revert your years… well, _that_ he was oblivious to. _Ugh_ , I should have never underestimated his defiance and curiosity to examine what the bottle contained."

" _HOW_ was turning me and _HIM_ into kids supposed to solve things?" Joey pressed on as he pointed towards the man he despised.

"It wasn't formulated to turn you into kids!" Jack protested, now under the gaze of two peeved off looking men. Thank goodness Seto wasn't there to make it a trio of displeasured glares. Regardless of the looks he received, it was time for him to stand up and reclaim his ground. "The spell was simply meant to erase your minds back to the time 'just before' you both met. That way you two could start over and form a bound that would actually see you both behave in a _civilised_ manner towards each other..."

The harsh glares dissolved a little as the captain's strict informative manner finally hit home with the feuding duo. Whilst not directly responsible for the situation themselves, they now realised that they had been the fundamental issue that was trying to be resolved. Had it not been for their pettiness, then their friend would still be his normal self.

"...If I hazarded a guess, it would be that Seto bore the full blunt of the spell to revert him so drastically. After all, he was the only one present when the bottle was opened. It had been formulated for two, so if it was that concentrated-"

"Formulated by whom?" Ianto interjected.

"A shaman from down Ely way. Missy, I think her name was..?" Jack explained with a slight shrug as he revealed the rendezvous he'd had with the woman during the early hours of that morning. "She used an old Arkan textbook and guaranteed it would cure things within a day-"

"Found it!" Ryou exclaimed as he came running out of his boss' office. In his hand he proudly held the wedding band that he'd been searching for.

"Great! Give it here." Jack held his palm out and waited for the ring to be handed to him.

"Ohhh no!" Ianto was quick to step in and intercept the golden hoop before it found it's way into his husband's hand. "Remember what happened the last time you were in charge of Seto's ring? _I'll_ take it." He threaded the chain of his stopwatch through the ring's centre and placed it into his pocket for safe keeping.

"Just make sure you give it back to Seto and _NOT_ to somebody else." Joey sneered as he brought up the incident that had started their feud all those years back. His eyes met the Welshman's irritated glare.

"Look, I'm _DONE_ asking!" the captain spat as he witnessed yet another standoff. "Now I'm _TELLING_ ; If you two continue to behave like this, I will _smash_ your heads together! Don't think I won't."

Ryou suddenly tugged on Jack's greatcoat sleeve in order to get his attention. "Here comes Becky and Seto."

Across the room from them, the woman and child walked hand in hand as they returned from having Seto changed into more appropriate clothing for his smaller frame. As luck would have it, Rebecca had a bag of clothes that the twins had outgrown close to hand; which she had planned on donating to the woman's shelter during her lunch break. Of course the clothes were on the smaller side,- in regards to the length of pant legs and shirt sleeves,- but they were acceptable enough for the temporary occasion.

The four men watched as the blonde guided her vacant looking brother-in-law towards a workstation and sat him down in the seat. Close contact between the two as they conversed soon saw the boy agree to remain there whilst listening to some music via a set of headphones. His grave expression lifted a little as the selected tunes brightened his mood.

Rebecca gave a warm parting smile before she joined her colleagues to discuss the situation at hand. "Now what do we do?" her voice croaked a little. "We can't very well send him home to Kisara looking like this."

"Why not?" Jack queried. "She's knows about Torchwood."

"But _NOT_ abouther husband's involvement!" The strain on her sore throat as she emphasised the fact caused Rebecca a small coughing fit.

"She's got a point." Ianto agreed as he patted the woman's back to help ease her current discomfort. "Engaging in such a revealing conversation with Kisara is going to be tricky. One I wouldn't like to start. _Plus,_ facing Seto's wrath later on when he learns that you've exposed her to his secret _ISN'T_ something to look forward to either. You know how strongly he feels about keeping Torchwood from his family. _Don't_ rock that boat."

The captain let out a frustrated sigh. Whilst he could understand the CEO's viewpoint in wanting the two aspects of his life separate, it sure made things more difficult than they needed to be at times. "Fine. I'll just make up some excuse about having called Seto over to upgrade our systems then. It'll be a task that that will take him overnight and mask his absence."

"And in the meantime one of us will just look after him?" Ryou wanted it clarified that he had followed the plot so far.

"Yes."

"Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to rule myself out. I've only just gotten my godson's life sable since relocating him to Japan and don't wish to disrupt things further-"

"That's perfectly understandable." Jack assured Ryou before he had chance to ramble on with justification. " _Do not_ feel guilty for being unable to help on this occasion."

"I can't take him in either." Rebecca wheezed as she struggled to get her words out.

"Because of Mokuba?" the captain ventured in order to make life easier for the woman who simply nodded her head before coughing once more. "Yeah, I know. Don't worry Bex."

"We'll take him." Ianto declared as he looked at his husband.

"Can't. There's too many hazardous things around the hub."

"Then I'll watch over him someplace else."

"No Yantie, I _need_ you."

"I'm sure you can manage without sex for one day."

"That's _not_ what I meant and you know it." Jack met the pleading gaze that he knew he couldn't allow himself to give into. Not this time. "The rift's recent influx means that it's more important than ever to have our team fully capable of handling things without us there handing their hands. We _NEED_ those newbies up to full speed, and I _can't_ teach them on my own all at once. Not without putting the rest of Cardiff at risk."

"But what about Seto?" Ianto argued. Yes he was aware of how vital it was to train the new recruits, but still… "He needs us too."

"There's still one other person in this room to call on …"

All eyes,- with the exception of Ianto's,- fell on Joey before the captain had even finished speaking.

"Oh hell no! I _AIN'T_ taking him!"

"Why not?" Jack challenged. "You live alone so don't have any family members around that would make his stay an inconvenience."

"Hasn't it occurred to you that I _might_ just have prior commitments for tonight?"

"Like what?"

Joey hadn't thought that far ahead to have come up with a reasonable excuse for evading the dreaded babysitting duty. He was also pretty sure that 'getting wasted' and 'sleeping around' weren't acceptable excuses. "Just… stuff."

"I'll ask again; Like what?"

It didn't take long for the irritation in Jack's voice and stare to break the blond.

"Fine! I'll take him."

. — . — .

Seto's feet began to drag as he was led across the Kaiba Corp parking lot. Sensing the discomfort in the boy whose hand he was holding, Jack stopped whilst Joey continued ahead towards his car.

"Something wrong Seto?"

There was silence from the boy as he contemplated his response. This had to be another one of those trick questions that adults liked to ask despite them already knowing the answer. It was the type of trick were his reply would be accepted as nothing more than a confession that would see him punished as a result. Just like yesterday when he'd been caught fighting with the bullies that had been tormenting his brother. Each of them had denied any wrongdoing whilst he alone had spoken the truth, only to be punished with a spanking and placed in solitary confinement for the rest of the day.

But his past experience of Jack told Seto that this man wasn't like the other adults. Sure he could be scarily strict at times, though he'd never been cruel. This man had also admitted his feelings and apologised to him,- a child!,- for having caused unintentional upset. He could trust him, couldn't he?

"I don't want to go with Joey." he mumbled as his eyes drifted in the other man's direction. "I don't know him; I _WANT_ to stay with you!"

"Sorry Seto, but you can't stay with me."

"Why not?" He pulled his hand free from the captain's. There was genuine hurt in his eyes as he quizzed the man that he'd thought he could trust. "You said you cared,- said that you _loved_ me,- but it's not enough to spend time with me..?"

"I _DO_ , but you _can't_ stay with me. I have other obligations right now; work commitments that I _MUST_ carry out." Jack's explanation didn't quite have the effect he'd hoped for as saw the scared and perplexed look turn more doubtful. He let out a sigh and crouched down to lower himself to the boy's level. "I would cancel them in a heartbeat if it were possible, but it's not… It doesn't mean that I don't care about you Seto. I would _NEVER_ entrust you to anyone whom I didn't have faith in to take care of you. Joey's a good man and will look after you in my place. Please go with him for tonight."

He still didn't like the idea of being left in the strange man's care, but Jack had been sincere with everything that had been said. In fact he was the only adult Seto had encountered in a long time that gave a deeper clarification other than 'no', 'because I say so' or 'just do it'. Slowly he nodded, "Alright."

"Thank you."

Hand in hand, the two of them continued on their way over to rejoin Joey who was busy adjusting the passenger seat in his black two-seater Mazda. "Okay Squirt, hop in and buckle up."

"Please _don't_ call him that." Jack drawled at the blond whilst Seto obediently clambered into the vehicle. He then lowered his voice and leant closer to the man he was speaking to. "Despite his age, he's still your boss and deserves to be respected as such."

"It won't happen again." It wasn't that the moniker had been used as an insult towards the CEO, but more of a friendly byname towards a child. Kinda hard for him to differentiate from the innocent looking boy now strapped in his car, but he would try from then on.

The passenger side door was closed and Joey walked around to the driver's side. He opened it and was about to get in when the captain gestured for his attention. "Yeah?"

"One final word before you leave… Over _here_ please."

A small frustrated groan was given before flicking a switch on the radio to keep his passenger entertained with music whilst he made his way to the older man. "What is it?"

"Be patient with him. He's just a child-"

" _Whoa_ , hang on a minute! Talk about mixed messages! First you tell me to treat him as I normally _should_ , and then like a _child_? Make up your mind!"

"Oh you're not grasping this are you?" Jack gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes, he's _still_ Seto. But he's not the Seto you know."

"Eh?"

"That little boy is the ten year old version of your boss. He has _no_ memories or knowledge beyond his age. As far as he's aware, he's just an orphan and has _no idea_ of his life as a Kaiba. He's not aware of _anything_ post 1990 or there abouts. _Do not_ expect him to know or do things that you and I take for granted."

"Okay, okay I get what you're saying." Joey sighed. Sure he could be an idiot at times, but did the other man seriously think that he was going to quiz and interrogate the boy all night? He had better ways to spend his time. He'd feed and send the kid off to bed then engross himself with his Xbox until the early hours. There'd be no engaging with Seto of _any_ sorts. "So, I guess I'll meet you back here tomorrow to make sure the spell has worn off... It _will_ wear off, won't it?"

"Temporary means not permanent." Jack nodded his assurance. "Seto will be back to his usual grumpy self in no time at all."

"Once he's back to normal, I'll tell him you called him grumpy."

"Go right ahead." The captain laughed in response to the playful jest. "He forgives my witticisms all the time."

"Damn it!" Joey mockingly growled, causing more laughter.

The two men bid each other goodbye and Jack waved to Seto as the car slowly pulled away.

 **...Take a portrait, 25 let me hear you singing it out,**

 **Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba baaa,**

 **Yeah we're singing it out,**

 **Ba ba ba ba b-**

"I _hate_ that band!" Joey exclaimed as he changed the radio station until he heard the sound of a rock guitar solo. "There, now _THAT'S_ real music!" A swift look to his side saw a rather sad and distance boy staring out of the passenger window. "I'm sorry, was you listening to that?"

"Doesn't matter." Seto mumbled in response. In actual fact he had been enjoying the song by the band whom he recognised as the same one that the kind lady had let him listen to earlier. But he knew better than to argue. He was a merely a child and had learnt that his opinion was irrelevant to that of an adult's.

The unhappy tone of Seto's voice prompted Joey to switch the radio station back to the sound of Take That. He hadn't meant to upset the boy, and supposed that he could suffer listening to the British band just this once in order to keep him happy.

 **...days be long and light,**

 **Future you can wait,**

 **Cause time's still on our side.**

Eyes widened in surprise and recognition of the song once more. A smile faintly formed on Seto's face.

 **Take a portrait, 25 let me hear you singing it out,**

 **Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba baaa**

Jack was right; Joey was a good man.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Knowing that he had next to no food within his apartment to feed himself,- let alone a child,- Joey made a quick swing-by to a convenience store on the way home. There he purchased some instant ramen and a few other things in order to provide them both with an evening meal and breakfast the following day.

 **Let me run with you,**

 **Let me run with you my friend,**

 **Let me be with you,**

 **Running to the wild again,**

The buildings they drove past were unlike any Seto,- a rural boy,- had ever seen before. Sure he'd seen high-rises, and even the occasional skyscraper or two ascending upwards on the city's skyline, but nothing on such a breathtaking scale as this. Domino seemed to be filled with such luxurious structures that he assumed only the rich could afford to inhabit and he could only ever dream of setting foot inside.

 **It's almost like we go,**

 **Dance with desire then we go,**

 **Playing with fire then we go,**

 **Into the wild again-...**

 _And that's enough of that!_ Joey was relieved to not have to listen to any more of Take That's songs. He switched off the car's engine after having arrived at his apartment block and parked up. "Okay, we're home. Well, my home, but ya knew what I meant."

"You live here?!" Seto was amazed. The building was so shiny and new, and not run down in the slightest. It was a world apart from _any_ of the places he'd ever stayed in before.

"Yup."

"Wow!" The boy's mouth continued to gape before curving up into a grin as he looked back at his temporary guardian. "Are you sure you're not rich?"

"Positive." Joey assured as he struggled to lock the vehicle with his hands already occupied holding a huge paper grocery bag. Whilst his apartment block may have looked high-end market, it was in fact nothing more than just a fairly new building; with a doorman to boot. The deposit for buying his place had been high,- he'd had to borrow money from his boss for that,- but monthly payments on his mortgage, utilities and service charges were easily covered by his salary.

"Good evening Mr Wheeler." The middle aged doorman greeted him as he held open the huge glass entrance door to the lobby.

"Hi Jeff."

The doorman's friendly welcoming gaze landed on the boy staying close to the resident's side. "And who might you be?"

Unsure of just what kind of response was appropriate, Seto hid behind Joey's legs. He'd always been taught by his parents to speak whenever he was spoken to, but a huge majority of adults seemed to contradict that teaching by telling him that children should only ever be seen and not heard. So which was it? Although Joey seemed to be a good person so far, he had no desire to accidentally anger him, therefore Seto chose to remain quiet until he'd been given permission to talk.

"This is my er, nephew." Joey quickly came up with the impromptu explanation for the youngster's presence. "He'll be staying over tonight."

"Ah, so _this_ is the illustrious Mason!" Jeff chuckled as he crouched down to the child's level in order to speak with him. He held out his hand. "Your uncle's told me about you. It's finally nice to meet you in person young man."

Unsure of just what was going on, Seto stared at the hand before him and then up at Joey for some kind of indication on what to do next. The soft nod given to him in response to his curious look, told him that it was okay to shake the doorman's hand. Letting go of the pants he was using as a shield, he did just that.

"As you may have already guessed, my name's Jeff. If there's anything I can do for you during your stay here with your uncle then don't be afraid to ask, okay son?" The doorman then stood back to full hight and pressed the button to call them an elevator.

Son…? Seto wasn't quite sure what the doorman had meant by that but offered a polite smile and nod in response as the man seemed nice enough.

When the elevator doors opened, Joey bid the older man goodnight before he and 'Mason' entered into the small space that would take him up to his apartment's level.

"So... I have to pretend to be your nephew?" Seto commented curiously as they ascended the floors.

"Yeah." Joey winced a little, uncertain of just how the other felt to be portraying someone else besides himself. "Only until we can get ya back to Jack again tomorrow though. It just saves me from having to answer more questions that Jeff might have otherwise asked, because then it could get complicated and Jack wouldn't be too happy about that either… I'm sorry, I should have spoken to you about it first."

"It's okay, I don't mind." Seto assured as he glanced up at the man entrusted to be his guardian for the night. "But why did Jeff call me Son? He knows I'm _not_ his son, right?"

"He didn't mean it literally." The blond laughed a little. "Some people are just kind hearted by nature and use terms like Son,- or Squirt,- in affectionate manners. If it offends you though, I'll tell him not to call ya by it again."

"No, don't. I'd rather be called that instead of 'boy', 'brat' or 'ingrate' any day."

Joey peered down at the youngster by his side who was now avoiding his gaze. Even his old man during his many drunken stupors, hadn't referred to him like that unless seriously provoked into doing so, so why would anyone cruelly address an orphaned child as such? Having experienced Seto as he was now, he knew that this boy's behaviour hadn't warranted any of it. _People can be such assholes. No wonder ya grew such a thick skin against the world and fought back if that was how it treated ya at such a young age._

The elevator came to a standstill and the doors opened.

"Okay, this is our floor. Just follow the corridor round and my place is the last door on the right."

Seto did as instructed and soon found himself standing outside of Joey's front door. Once more he was impressed by what he saw in the way of lavish lighting and several fruticosa trees scattered throughout the red carpeted halls. Still he continued to find it hard to believe that this man wasn't considered rich yet lived here. "This place is a-mazing!"

"Just wait until ya see inside, you'll soon be changing your tune." The blond smirked as he held the bag of groceries in one hand, leaning it against his chest as he used the other hand to unlock and open the door. He then gestured for Seto to enter. "Welcome to my abode."

Anticipation fluttered inside Seto's stomach as he stepped over the threshold and into a tiny bare looking hallway. He removed his shoes and then proceeded to pass by two doors,- a bathroom and a laundry room, he was told by the man behind him,- and then found himself in a huge open kitchen and dining area that was easily bigger than his orphanage dormitory that slept ten. "Wow!… This is just one room?"

"Uh-huh. My bedroom is through the right door and living room on the left." Joey explained as he placed the bag of groceries down on the counter. "Go and explore whilst I cook us up some food."

Explore? He was allowed free range of the place all on his own?! This man trusted him that much to let him wander around his home unsupervised? No adult had ever given him such trust. _Hmm, where to start...?_ The living room seemed as good a place as any. Seto took the door to his left and his jaw nearly hit the floor upon what he saw next.

"Sorry about the mess!" Joey shouted as he filled a pan full of water and set it to boil on one of the stove rings. "I wasn't expecting to have guests over tonight. I'll tidy up the mess later."

 _Tidy up what mess?_ Seto thought as he glanced wide eyed around the room that was twice as big as the last. Apart from some discarded clothes and a small gathering of crockery piled on the glass coffee table in front of the couch, he could see no other mess. Besides, this was Joey's home, surely he had a right to live how he chose, right?

Taking a step further into the room, blue eyes scanned a wall that had several guitars mounted upon it. Did Joey play such instruments or were they purely for decoration purposes? Either way, his mother's love of all things music had taught him to appreciate the fine craftsmanship that went into making such works of art, as well as the person playing them. Out of all the instruments she'd tried teaching him to make 'sing', there was something about an acoustic guitar that he'd always enjoyed. The simplicity to learn it perhaps? Or the way it had made him feel at ease as his fingers strummed down the strings? But those days were behind him as he'd not touched a single instrument since her untimely death. Not because he didn't want to, but because nobody had allowed him to...

Tearing himself away from the nostalgic evoking wall, Seto's eyes soon landed on the gigantic black leather couch. It was a weird 'L' ,- almost 'C',- shape and could easily seat a eight adults. Did Joey ever need to seat so many people? And what was that strange black rectangle thing it pointed towards? Surely that wasn't a television..? For starters, there was no casing to house the tube and loudspeakers. The screen was also flat and far too big that it looked more like some kind of projection screen than anything else. Yeah, that's what it had to be; some kind of fancy hi-tech projector. But then again, who would want to stare at 'that' when the view from the window behind it was the most breath taking thing he'd ever seen!

"Whoa!" Seto breathed out in awe as he stared down at the city 20 floors below him. This was the highest up he'd ever been, and it sure beat the view of the orphanage's dumpster from his dormitory's window. _I wish Mokie was here to see this!_

Whilst the view mainly looked down at the rooftops of nearby buildings and the surrounding roads, there was still a pretty good view of Domino Park further across the way with plenty of taller structures obstructing the sunsetting horizon beyond that. One building in particular,- that also happened to tower above the rest,- caught his eye as its giant KC insignia started to illuminate in the fading light...

"Would you prefer bok choy or bean sprouts in your ramen?" Joey called through from the kitchen. He received no answer to his question so wandered into the living room to see his young mesmerised guest. "Hey, did ya not hear what I said?"

The blond's sudden appearance caught Seto off guard a little and he jumped. Oh no, he'd been spoken to and hadn't been paying attention! Was there a punishment now waiting for him? "I er… um… I didn't hear."

"No worries." Joey assured as he began tidying up a little by throwing a small cushion back onto the couch and picking up his clothes that the brunette he'd brought home the previous night had been so eager to remove from him. "I asked if you would prefer bok choy or bean sprouts in your ramen."

He got to have a say in what he had to eat? There'd be no going without or being force fed? It was such an alien concept to Seto after all the mealtimes he'd had at the orphanage where the majority of meals served up there contained fish in one form or another with no alternative option. When it came to food, he hated all things fish. Something about it,- whether it was the smell, flavour or texture,- it just always made him gag. Most times he'd simply go without since it was near impossible to eat other parts of the meal that weren't contaminated by the vile aroma and taste. Other times, he'd been forced fed,- 'for his own good' _apparently_ ,- only to then be violently sick straight after, which he was then punished for also.

"But ya know, if you can't decide on which one I could always add both…? Or neither if that's what you'd prefer. Then there's the egg and pork-"

"Yes, both! Add both, add it all!" the enthusiastic response burst from Seto as his mouth began to water from the thought of the meal. "I mean... that sounds good. I'd like that."

Though it was slightly embarrassed, the boy's wide smile beaming at Joey was contagious and materialised on his face as he stuffed the bundle of his clothes under one arm and picked up the stacked crockery from the coffee table with the other. "Make yourself at home. I'll call you through when it's ready."

"Um, Joey?"

"Yeah?"

"What's that?"

He turned to see what it was that had prompted the question and saw an outstretched finger pointing to something that had been hidden from view by the stray cushion just a few moments earlier. _You gotta be kidding me?!_ … "That's a dueldisk."

"What's a dueldisk?"

Joey bit his tongue and reminded himself of what Jack had said earlier about the ten year old's knowledge of things, or rather the lack of it. "You use it to play Duel Monsters."

"Duel Monsters!" Seto's eyes lit up at the mention of the card game he'd not too long ago discovered and had become addicted to playing. Someday he'd have his own deck and no longer use the homemade cards himself and the other kids drew in order to play. "How's it work?"

"You place it on your arm, insert cards into it and it projects them as holographic images for you to play against your opponent."

"Holographic images? You mean like the chess set in Star Wars?"

"Sorta, only better. I'll give you a demonstration once we've eaten, okay?"

"Okay." Seto nodded in response as Joey returned to the kitchen. He then walked over to the strange looking device and picked it up to get a closer look, hands carefully supporting either side of the middle section that was circular in shape. It had a digital display counter that he guessed would be were the player's life points were calculated and recorded..? And there were two sizeable slots that looked like they may hold entire decks; one for an actual deck and the other as a graveyard maybe..?

On one side of the circle there was a trapezoid shaped plate with two blue rectangle spaces whilst on the other side there was another trapezoid,- or was it a parallelogram?,- shaped plate with three blue rectangle spaces. These had to be the fields right? One for monsters and the other for traps and spells? No, that didn't seem right. They both were supposed to have five spaces each… Weren't they?

Brows crinkled in perplexity as the boy slowly turned the duel disk over in his hands in the same holding position he had picked it up. _Ah!_ He now saw additional slots underneath the lips of the plates. Now the ten field spaces were all accounted for… But why six on one side and four on the other? Odd, he'd ask Joey about that later. There wasn't much else to see on this side which just looked very much like an arm fastening for wearing the device, as well as a lone switch. _I wonder what this does?_ Seto's curious finger poked closer at the little button that caused the dueldisk to suddenly spring to life and send the two field plates together as one, sandwiching the small hand between them.

" _Aaaaaaggghh!_ "

Hearing the scream, Joey abandoned what he was doing and raced through into the living room. "You okay Squirt?" he asked in a slight panic as he looked down at the tearful boy clutching his hand close to his body whilst the dueldisk lay at his feet.

"I… I was just looking." Seto whimpered as the man neared. "I didn't know it would do that. Ow!" He pulled his throbbing fingers closer still.

"Let me see." Joey coaxed the upset child to show him the hand that had gotten caught up in the dueldisk's field activation. It was reluctantly shown to him, fingers trembling and skin still pale from the impact that had been placed upon it. "That's gonna bruise. I'll get you something for it."

"I'm sorry; please don't be mad!"

"I'm not mad at you." The assurance was given before the blond left the room. _But I AM mad at whoever designed the dueldisk to activate like that! Wait, that 'would' be Seto, right?_ He grabbed a bag of frozen beans from the freezer and wrapped them in a clean tea towel. _Pfft, even so, it's not the kid version of him's fault, it's the egotistical dickhead teen version of him that failed to install a simple safety sensor to prevent this from ever happening! I wonder how many lawsuits he's had over the years with regards to things like this..?_

"Here, this'll help to reduce the swelling and ease the pain." Joey held out the improvised icepack. "But first I need ya to wiggle those fingers for me."

Seto did as he was told.

"Okay good." Joey praised as he watched the now bright pink digits move up and down. "Now make a fist."

Again his instruction was obeyed.

"Does it hurt?"

"A little."

"Does it hurt enough that you want to scream or cry?" Joey elaborated as he could see the boy trying to be brave in holding back the tears in his eyes. "I need ya to be honest. If it hurts a lot, tell me."

"No. It just stings."

"Is that the honest truth?"

Seto nodded.

"Well then, that means nothing's broken." Joey gently put the icepack on the boy's hand. "Hold this in place for a while." He then picked up the dueldisk and gave it a quick look over to check for any damage, of which there was none. Kaiba Corp certainly knew how to make robust products. "We've still got some time before the ramen is done cooking, so why don't I show you this thing in action now instead of later? You know, since the playing field is already in place and all."

"Yeah!"

 _I knew that would cheer you up._ The blond simpered and retrieved his deck from a concealed storage compartment underneath one of the couch's seating areas. He fished out several cards before placing one of them face up onto the field.

"Baby Dragon!" Seto exclaimed joyously as the small orange dragon materialise before his very eyes.

"See. I told you these holograms were better than the ones in Star Wars." Joey proceeded to summon Time Wizard to the field. "Wanna see what happens when I fuse these two together?"

"You can do that?!"

"Uh huh, watch."

Seto's eyes widened in wonder as Polymerisation was played and the two monsters meld together to form the even bigger orange dragon, Thousand Dragon. "Whoa! That's neat!… Maximillion Pegasus is my idol. Did you know, he isn't even 20 yet but he created this game, paints all the artwork himself which he uses on the cards and runs his own company? Him making these devices to play it on too makes him even more so my hero."

Whilst it was heartwarming to see the admiration this younger version of his boss held for the other man, even after all these years there were still plenty of bitter feelings that Joey harboured towards Pegasus for having put them through the hell that was Duelist Kingdom. How Seto could have forgiven him for what he now knew must have been a truly devastating act of betrayal,- even more so than he'd already assumed,- he'd never know. "Sorry to disappoint you Squirt, but whilst Pegasus created Duel Monsters, he _doesn't_ make the dueldisks."

"Oh." A hint of disappointment could be heard in the young voice at what he'd been told. But it wasn't enough for him to think any less of his idol. It just meant he had two now, Pegasus plus whoever it was that made the device on Joey's arm. "Who makes them?"

"His business partner… Can't remember the guy right now though." There was a trace of truth to Joey's words as he stared at the boy before him. It would be what, another five or six years before this Seto became the jackass he'd first clashed with in the Game shop? Such a short space of time for someone currently so pure of heart to change their personality from one extreme to the other. Of course he had a pretty strong idea of just whom had been responsible for that…

"Do you have _any more_ dragons in your deck?" Seto's inquisitiveness broke through Joey's thoughts and dragged him back into the here and now.

"Well I do have _one_ more dragon I 'could' show you."

"Yes, please! Dragons are my favourites!"

"I never would have guessed." a playful jibe was given towards the excited ten year old. "Okay, since you've been a good kid, I'll show you."

Wait, he'd been considered 'good' even though he'd gotten his hand trapped in the dueldisk? Seto might have voiced his confusion had he not been so eager to witnessed the promised monster. He waited with bated breath as Thousand Dragon was removed from the playing field. _I wonder what it's going to be? Thunder Dragon perhaps? Hyozanryu? A Luster Dragon would be amazing! But those are all pretty hard to get. Maybe it's something more common like Petit Dragon? Or Blackland Fire Dragon? Or Koumori Dragon? Or -…?_

A loud roar filled the air as Red Eyes Black Dragon made it's appearance and breathed a jaw full of flames towards the ceiling.

 _It's a….! It's a….!...!_ Seto's eyes widened and his mouth gaped enormously at the dragon before him. "Y-y-you've got a R-red Eyes!"

"Yeah… I do." Joey aimlessly replied. He'd never seen anyone in such an immense state of awe before. At least not without help from some kind of narcotic substance… The pure wonderment of a child really was a truly beautiful thing to behold. "You like?"

Actions spoke louder than words as the frozen beans and tea towel combo hit the floor with a thud and Seto moved towards the holo image with both hands outstretched. He tried to touch the magnificent monster only for his fingers to pass right through it, though it didn't damper his feelings at all as he turned to Joey with a gaping wide grin. "Red Eyes are only given out to tournament winners! You must be an amazing player to own one in your deck."

"Not to toot my own horn, but I _AM_ pretty good." He replied with a rather smug smile. Whilst the boy was clearly unaware of just how he'd actually obtained his Red Eyes and the fact he hadn't placed first in a single tournament in his life,- a lot of that was partially down to Rebecca defending her title, as well as his own life turning to shit,- he was still a high ranking duelist. One of the best. After so many years of being mocked by one person or another, he'd slowly learnt to rebuild his confidence again… but not too much. He was determined to remain humble and had no desire to give birth to an ego that may overcome him some day.

 _Maybe he could show me some new strategies so that I can become a better player like him?_ Seto excitedly thought to himself at hearing the other's pride oozing in his words. His grin then began to falter and slowly disappeared as he remembered that Joey hadn't originally wanted him there in the first place, so he most likely wouldn't want to teach him Duel Monsters tactics either. _I'm nothing but a burden after all…_

"Something wrong?" Joey asked as he noticed a shift in the other's temperament. He'd honestly thought that showing him his cards would keep the youngster happy, so why the sudden change? _How the hell am I meant to keep you content?_

"My fingers still sting." The lie was given as Seto reached down to retrieve the half unwrapped pack of frozen beans and placed it back on his battered left hand. His stomach then rumbled as he caught a whiff of the ramen simmering in the chicken stock. "Will it be long before we eat?"

"Not much longer." The red eyed dragon disappeared as the blond deactivated the dueldisk. He opened up the couch compartment once more and took out a shoebox which he placed on the coffee table and gestured to Seto. "Start making yourself a deck with my spare cards. Once we've eaten, we'll duel… Take this and add it to your deck too."

Joey left the room to finish preparing their meal whilst Seto stared down at the Red Eyes Black Dragon card that had been placed beside the shoebox. Joyous tears threatened to fall at having been entrusted with such a valuable possession. _I'll build a deck to make you proud and show that I have what it takes to be worthy of using this card._


End file.
